Punishment is a thorny subject, even as a boy like you I received many and they served me as a lesson; unfortunately there are situations in which punishments are of little use as whoever receives them does not receive the message and is unable to make corrections. I'm always for positivity and I believe that the reward is better than the punishment but both things are sides of a coin and both things are "earned"; personally in adulthood I obviously feel much more stimulated by receiving an award for my commitment even if by now I have made the commitment regardless my way of doing, I always want to give 110% in every situation to be able to sleep peacefully and look at myself mirror smiling. I believe that the punitive system in the various states is another thorny topic, in Italy it should probably be completely revised as it doesn't work at all and by now people tend to give a damn about it because they know that in some way they will escape the punishment or in any case it will be very light compared to the crimes; paradoxically in my part those who commit lighter crimes are often punished disproportionately. I don't know what corrections could be made, however I believe that certain mistakes cannot be forgiven; one of the phrases from the "Jungle Book" that I like says... "just punishment settles all accounts", but I guess this is unfortunately true in the jungle but for the human race it is not like this, because maybe the accounts are paid with the punishment unfortunately, however, the man is a repeat offender and does not learn from the punishments therefore in the end the bill ... is never paid.
Thanks for the reflection, it struck me a lot also because my brother is a policeman and I often think of a series of situations that he has to live through.
A hug!
The legal/judicial system in many countries is questionable and there's many faults, there is no doubt of that. It it acceptable to do the best they can with it? I mean the government administrators...I don't know. Maybe society deserves more...but nothing is ever perfect right?
As someone else commented, society seems to see a police badge and forget that that person is a human, has a family and friends and does a very tough job. Sure, they know the risks going in, and yes, there are some very corrupt individuals (and departments) however in the main they do a job that many cannot or would not, the same as military people.
I guess it comes down to each and every one of us...human beings. if we all did the right thing, to the best of our ability, the need for law enforcement would diminish, not go completely, just lessen. But, that's not going to happen because it's in humankind's nature to be selfish, egotistical, greedy and hubristic.